Group+1

Group 1 -
 * *Slide and Seek*: **
 * ~ ==Slideshow Tools,== ||~ ==Storybook Tools,== ||~ ==Timeline Tools== ||



Group: Danielle, Raymond, Rachel, Stacey K, Kirstie,
Your group is responsible for reviewing the best of the tools within your assigned set. You can decide what tools you will choose and who will review what tool. Include the following information in review:
 * This url is the correct link for this topical listings of the 50 Web 2.0 Ways to Tell a Story**

• ease of use • site support • appropriate for what audiences • is there an educational version • strengths, weaknesses • ideas for use

Tool Reviews

 * = **Name of Tool** ||= **URL** ||= **Review of Tool** ||= **Reviewed By:** ||
 * = ToonDoo ||= http://www.toondoo.com/ ||= ** Ease of Use ** : Despite the incredibly long loading process, ToonDoo is very easy to use—even if no artistic ability accompanies the user. Although all backgrounds and characters are easy to add, you might have to start over a few times if the scale is off for what you want to portray in the frame. The characters can be shrunk or enlarged, depending on your intentions, but the thought/word bubbles cannot.


 * Site Support: ** The ToonDoo site has a help wiki where they have posted articles and pages that explain how to use and manipulate the site/tools. For example, [|this page] is all the “how do I” questions—essentially a FAQ page. Links to other pages provide the answers to all questions listed. The right hand column of the wiki provides quick links to topics of note or contact information if you cannot find the answer for which you search.


 * Audience: ** Without any sense of how much elementary students are capable of, I hesitate to say that this tool is K-Adult, but I imagine that Digital Natives and particularly precocious young students could handle the software. Middle and high school students as well as adults can use the tools to share information, teach, or just have fun.


 * Educational Version: ** Yes! To get access to educational tools such as in-built content moderation, special educational clipart, and user activity-moderating mechanisms for educators, teachers can start a 15-day free trial of the ToonDooSpaces. On this safe, secure, and private site (connected to but different from ToonDoo http://www.toondoospaces.com), no outsiders can access your or your students’ information. The site determines the price by number of users and months used. For example, with only 60 users for nine months, the cost per user is $.20. With 500 users for nine months, the price drops to $.17. Otherwise, students and teachers can use the original site without security or management mechanisms for free.


 * Strengths/Weaknesses: ** One of the biggest strengths is the ease of use for all students. In just twenty minutes students of mine created and printed a cartoon that expressed the content we were studying. The site is (rightfully) touted as the “World’s fastest way to create cartoons.” The bevy of choices for characters, backgrounds, and props is another strength; users can make each cartoon his or her own. The site also allows for users to upload their own images, creating a truly unique frame or cartoon. In terms of weaknesses, I could not find many. Educators might find the paid site to be a bit pricy if they do not use the tool frequently, but the original site lacks security. Finally, the cartoon may not always be the best way to communicate information, and students may find themselves more focused on the aesthetics than the content. Teachers should be wary of how much time is spent on this project and ask students complete the writing first so to ensure strong diction, syntax, and content. Otherwise, the site seems to provide many choices and options for avid or casual users.


 * For Use in the Classroom ** : I have been trying to implement when possible! When studying Transcendentalism (//Self-Reliance// in particular), I had my kids read a passage and use the cartoon to convey the ideas in the passage and connect them to the ideals of Transcendentalism. This worked great! I also offered this as a possibility for research; if students can find and evaluate their sources first, the cartoon could be a great way to share information found on a particular topic for any subject. When sharing information with a conversational tone, students must find a way to change the wording and tone of the information. Using a cartoon to tell an audience or other characters about a person’s biography is like building in paraphrasing practice and skills.

This tool could be used to communicate rules of the classroom, building, or lab. It could be the way that students will become interested in sharing information with their peers. The possibilities are limitless, and this tool will help us to meet the NETS and Common Core Standards incorporating technology. ||= Danielle Alric Looman ||
 * = Tar Heel Reader ||= http://tarheelreader.org/ ||= ** Ease of Use: ** Since I cannot create any books because I needed an initiation code in order to log on, and one was not available to me, I cannot say that this site was easy to use. I have also been timed out a few times when I tried to locate books. Locating and reading the available books was easy, and if I were able to create an account I could use pictures already provided by Flickr. Users can also upload their own pictures, which would make writing books of and for your specific students very accessible, even on a tight timetable.


 * Site Support: ** An extremely sparse site at first glance, the Tar Heel Reader allows the user to change languages, but does not appear to provide site support. A few hyperlinks can help the user report a bug, learn about how to upload rotated images, or deal with copyrighted images. Lacking a formal FAQs or support page, users might not get all the information they need.


 * Audience: ** Almost exclusively for primary students, this site is designed for grades K-5 (depending on the reading ability of the student). A less functional product than Mixbook can provide, this tool only allows for certain amounts of text to accompany each picture, limiting the audience.


 * Educational Version: ** The Tar Heel Reader appears to be educational without having a separate version. The intent of the site is to provide information with images, so it is educational in nature, whether parents or teachers will be the users.


 * Strengths/Weaknesses: ** The weaknesses of this site have already come up; the little site support and difficulty to create an account lead the list. One of the strengths is that primary students can practice reading silently and aloud with pictures that accompany the text. Teachers and parents can make books about their children to help them practice reading or learning certain subjects. (I imagine that primary teachers could find the strengths better than I!)


 * Use in Classroom: ** As a secondary teacher, I probably should not have reviewed this tool because I cannot see a way to use it. I know that it would be useful for primary teachers; my mom especially as a Speech Pathologist could create books or find books her students could read aloud to practice fluency and pronunciation. Primary students need a lot of practice reading, and doing so online. ||= Danielle Alric Looman ||
 * MixBook || http://www.mixbook.com/ || ** Ease of Use: ** With many different templates and designs already prepared, creating an invitation, card, guestbook, or scrapbook is easy for even those without a great depth of knowledge about technology. The free account even gives the user a 20% off discount.


 * Site Support: ** The Mixbook site provides a page for FAQs, provides a live chat option as well as a phone number and email address. They offer live help five days a week, generally between 9:00 A.M. and 5:00 P.M.


 * Audience: ** The site appears to be aimed at adults or older teenagers. Many of the tabs and project ideas are for scrapbooking, weddings, and babies. Although teens are capable of completing scrapbook projects or celebrating an engagement or birth, generally speaking these types of books would most likely be created by adults. However, through the educational version of the site provides for and caters to its student population.


 * Educational Version: ** The educational version of this tool requires no contracts or fees yet proclaims its trustworthiness and security.


 * Strengths/Weaknesses: ** The educational version allows faculty, students, and parents to share projects online. This could be an incredible way to create a sense of community in the classroom, building, or district. I see this tool taking an incredible amount of time to look professional. Students or advisers would need to spend hours with photos, captions, information, and other tools to make their book polished.

While the educational version does cost money, it may be worth it considering the multiple uses it provides. The teacher can create quiz reviews that give students the opprotunity to answer questions about pictures in a timed fashion to improve speed of recalling information. This site is also Smartboard compatible so students can interact with the site making it great for stations or centers. Photopeach gives the students the opprotunity to create their own digital story through pictures to design self expressive projects that can then be shared with the world...or not. A few strengths of the site are the privacy settings, the ability and ease to share with whoever, the multiple uses in the classroom, and the freedom of expression it provides students (or really any of its users). A few weaknesses are the limitations of the free account (users can't even add music to a slideshow without a paid account), adding a voiceover is not possible, so a student (or any user) couldn't add a comment about a photo if desired, and there is little to no site support (you have to email the company and wait). All that being said, this site lends itself to some potentially great uses in the classroom. A few of these ideas are a slideshow introduction of each student in the beginning of the year (10 cool things about me), a "Back to School" or parent night slideshow to show the parents what their student has been doing in the class (or will be doing...last year's activities), and individual or group student projects that allow students to creatively express their learning and themselves. || Stacey Kaufman || This site does give students the opprotunity to create and publish their own storybook giving them the power to express themselves and their creativity and puts them in control of their learning. FAQ and an email to contact them directly offers site support for troubleshooting or ordering questions. Some strengths to this site are the fact that students can create and can publish their own books, students could be an active part of their yearbook and/or class projects, and teachers can create homework calendars. Plus it is very user friendly (another strength). Some weaknesses to this site are it's limited use (you can only use it fully if you purchase a product), the COST (not everyone would be able to afford a student project storybook for $20), and there isn't much of an educational version of this site. Nonetheless some ideas for uses in the classroom could be student projects (a student could create an entire book about their own topic of interest), teacher created homework calendars (it would be great for parents), the school could have a contest for students to create pages to go in the yearbook (all of a sudden more than just the yearbook committee have a say in what goes into the yearbook), and the school or class fundraiser is a great, hands-on, self created item to raise money for a good cause. || Stacey Kaufman || One really cool aspect of this site is when you ask a friend or family member to join, you ask them to add photos of you to your timeline or you can ask them a specific question about your life. They can, then, add whatever info they have about that event or about you. This could be a great way to get pictures of yourself from your childhood and stories you never knew from your great aunt Gertie. There is no educational version of this site, but it does offer 4 distinct privacy portals, so I imagine that it is a pretty safe site for students to be using (obviously being set at the most secure privacy portal). A few strengths of this site include the concept of this site (very unique idea and a great social media center that offers more than the latest gossip), easy way to connect with friends and family(its not like Facebook where everyone is your friend, it appears that you keep a pretty close group as your "friends" on this site), and it does offer those 4 distinct privacy portals for a range of privacy. A few weaknesses of this site are it's obvious difficulty to nagivate, there is no educational section (so it makes me leery to even use it in the classroom), and you have to have "friends" (which somewhat limits its use for school projects). A couple ideas for its use in the classroom could be that students create their own timeline and ask family members to add stories and pictures, the whole class could create a timeline of the activities that they are doing through the year (a look back on where they came from at the end of the year), and students could use it for a school project for history (where a timeline is created). || Stacey Kaufman ||
 * Use in Classroom: ** In addition to some of the projects the educational version shares as examples (invitations, programs, homework calendar, fundraiser), mixbook could be used to create class projects or stories. Teachers could create books to use year after year, while students could make keepsakes of their time with a favorite teacher or class. This year one of my AP students chose to recreate a text we read in class as a children’s book for her creative project. Instead of agonizing over the paper and pictures and cutting and pasting, she could have easily gotten on to Mixbook to cobble her story together to share with the rest of the students. This tool would also be a fantastic resource for all class historians; they could create a document and keep uploading pictures or quotes from grade nine on up to the senior year. || Danielle Alric Looman ||
 * Photopeach || @http://photopeach.com/ || This super easy, user friendly slideshow site is as simple as signing in, uploading pics, and clicking done. It is appropiate for all ages as it offers privacy settings to protect random strangers from viewing your slideshow. There is an educational version that allows the teacher to manage and monitor students' accounts as well as allow students to work on group projects under the class account while keeping the teacher's information and account private from the students.
 * Mixbook || @http://www.mixbook.com || This storybook tool is very easy to use for photobooks, cards, and calendars. Upload photos, choose your layout and format, and begin making your customed item. This site is so user friendly that anyone could create something special and unique to their story. The educational component to this site is limited to the items they offer, but they will provide a volume discount when large pruchases are made. Yearbooks, class project books, or individual project books can be created through their Education photobooks section. One very cool aspect to this site's educational section is the fundraiser options. Students can work on creating a photobook (or whatever) and sell it as fundraiser item.
 * Our Story || @http://www.ourstory.com/ || This timeline tool allows you to "share your memories, connect to your community, and explore your world," according to the creators of this site. This tool is a lot like a digital diary where you can also upload pictures to enhance your story. Its almost like a social media site because you add friends and family (other members of the site) to follow your timeline. While this is a very neat concept, I found this site very difficult to nagivate and learn how to post anything. I actually had to become a member to even see what the site offered.
 * Kerpoof || [] || Kerpoof, a video/comic site originally made by Disney, can be used to create drawings to be used in pictures, pictures to be used in storybooks, and a combination of things to be used in videos. Kerpoof seems fairly easy to use, although it would be helpful if there were directions associated directly with the tools instead of in the “How to play” section . There is a link to contact the site, however you need to provide an email address to get a response and it is submitted in comment form, nor is whatever submission confidential nor proprietary. The site is educator friendly as it includes educator accounts which include creating controlled spaces for classes, classroom ideas, and certain educational standards as well as pre-made lesson plans (including some for foreign languages!) Parents can also create accounts to help monitor their children. These features make the site more privacy protected than some others. Though Kerpoof is aimed at elementary schoolers, it could appeal to older students looking for a fun and creative break from traditional lessons every once in a while. The drawing tools are pretty interesting as you can adapt your own pictures and even have the site auto-correct certain shapes or mix colors for you based on clicks. The strengths are that it is very kid-geared and has great educator tools, but it does seem odd that when it comes to privacy the site support does not provide hardly any outside of individual class discussion. Kerpoof could be used to have students create various artwork and stories for a class and give them life. I also really like the fact that there are premade lesson plans for use and that you can create a classroom community, including discussion. || Rachel Hoffman ||
 * Vuvox || [] || Vuvox is a slideshow site that is very similar to Prezi, although with more immediate options. I think that this site could be confusing if you are not used to using tools similar to this as there are so many different options available at once. Therefore, Vuvox should probably only be used by an older audience that has an at least intermediate level of familiarity with technology. There is a contact us section with links for feedback or employment opportunities as well as a place for frequently asked questions, community guidelines, and a blog. I have not found that there is an educational version, but you can have private groups. I like that Vuvox creates a very slick and professional looking slideshow/video and has plenty of premade templates with variations to help start a project. It is also great that you can add hyperlinks and hypertext withing the project that can be clicked on However, I do not like that you can only really use media that is already online such as from a Flickr account or an RSS feed, meaning that the materials will have to be in multiple places unless you download their drag and drop plugin. It is also slightly troublesome that it is so easy to use media from other websites, like youtube, making Copyright infringement easier for students using the projects. This tool will be great though for having students take the class on some sort of journey with various types of media with explanations for the media, like a virtual tour. Any kind of project that needs images and explanations could be well served by Vuvox. || Rachel Hoffman ||
 * xtimeline || [] || xtimeline is a timeline tool that allows users to create a timeline with individual events with descriptions, links, and images. There is a contact us feature, but not really a place for Frequently Asked Questions. xtimeline is simple enough that any grade could use it with minimal explanation, although they ask that no one under 13 use the site, limiting availability unless it is for an entire class. There is no specific educational version, although it is praised by multiple sources and seems to be educational in nature. The great things about xtimeline are that you can make neat-looking and professional timelines to be shared. You can also put those timelines into a list However, I think there may be more weaknesses. I do not like that you have to create an account before you can even preview the tools, and privacy seems to be somewhat iffy at times. Entering events can also be quite tedious as you have to enter them one by one with specific dates, which is great when they are known. This site would be useful for having your students make timelines for certain events or ages in history, to create a class timeline of what will be done and due and when, and having students track personal progress. || Rachel Hoffman ||
 * PhotoPeach || [|http://photopeach.com] || PhotoPeach is very fast and easy to use. It is a program that creates slide shows. It will pan over a photo and you can control the speed the slideshow goes. I was able to download 30 photos in less than 5 minutes and the program takes you through the process with very easy instructions. You can also pick music to play with the slide show and add a typed caption to each photo. This could be a good story telling tool, using the captions on each photo to tell the story. A bad thing is that you cannot directly record your voice, you could record your voice to the computer creating an MP3 and then use that as the background music, but it would be really difficult to have the story match up. This is a great program for students to use to make quick easy digital stories or projects. This program, if you get the premium version, allows students to have accounts under their teacher. There are privacy settings so the teacher can be in control how the slideshows are shared. It is very easy with this program to share work to social media and blogs. The slideshows can be put on the class blog or saved to a disk or flash drive. Students can create slide shows to share with other students, parents, teachers and the world. PotoPeach says that there program teaches students “about presentation, expression, writing, communication skills, art appreciation, and media literacy.” I agree and think there is a lot of potential. I think that students can use this program to show their understanding of information and gives them the opportunity to be creative. These slideshows can also be used by teachers to create review games and teach new information. || Kirstie Menzies ||
 * Picasa || [| https://picasaweb.google.com/home] || I did not really like using Picasa. It was difficult for me to navigate and I had trouble using the program. It is a program that is connected with Google + and I have a Google + account so when I entered the programs some of my pictures already popped up. It is interesting that your slideshows and albums can be tagged and shared just as if you are on facebook. I know that Google + is meant to be this great social networking tool, but I have only every found gmail to be useful. It took me a very long time to find out how to download pictures and then figuring out how to make a slideshow was also not that easy. You could control the speed and add captions, but I did not see a way to add music. I would not think that this program would be very easy for students to figure out, maybe high school students would be OK, but this is not a program that would be good for little guys. I did not find an educational version and I could not find way to add a voiceover. It's strengths is that is it pretty quick in downloading and it can be easily shared. The weaknesses are that it is not very easy to use. I think that a teacher could use this program much like a powerpoint, to tell a story or as a review game. High school students could use this program to create projects and they could easily share their slideshows with other Google + members. If all students in the class were on Google + then I think that it would be a good way to share information. || Kirstie Menzies ||
 * Slidefickr || [|slideflickr.com] || Slideflickr works with Flicker, it took me a little bit of time to figure that out, but once I did it was very easy to use. It is good for people who already use the program Flickr. I figured out that I had to first download pictures to Flickr before I could create a slideshow. I was surprised how long it took to download photos onto Flickr, but once the photos were download it only took 3 seconds to create a slideshow. Another great feature of Slideflickr is that you can record your voice as an MP3 and attach it to the show. You can easily share these slideshows to and post them to a blog or a social networking site. You can not download copies to your computer, so it is only useable when working on the internet. I think that students would be OK using this program, but I still think that Photopeach is the easiest program for students to use. This program is very fast, but it does not allow for captions of the photos, but you can record your voice. it might be a bit difficult for the voice over to match was is happening with the pictures. There is not an education version. The strength are that you can add a voice over and it is fairly easy to use. The problems are that you can not add captions to the pictures, and you can only use this program with the internet you cannot save the slideshows to the computer. I think that this could be a good tool to use with older students and that it can be a very quick way for a teacher to show a slide show. Documents that a teacher needs to show the class could be made into a slide show very fast. Students who are shy speaking in front of the class could use this tool to record their voice and present a project to the class. || Kirstie Menzies ||
 * VoiceThread || http://www.voicethread.com || VoiceThread is a online multimedia slide show that holds images, documents and videos. The user is able to add comments in the slide show with their voice using a microphone, text, audio file or video. It was created at the University of North Carolina and can be used in the K-12 educational setting and in higher learning. Some strengths of VoiceThread include being easy to create slide show, you can add photos and video clips, the media can be annotated and other individuals can add their own material (Collaborative). Some of the weaknesses include you can not have multiple users on the same account and it can not be used on mobile internet There is a educational version that is on the website and is in a secure and accountable environment. The educational VoiveThread is create specifically for K-12 and has licenses available for educators, schools or districts. VoiceThread is appropriate for K-12 and also at the higher learning level. The site support on the VoiceThread webpage has contact information, guides to use the webpage and frequently asked questions (FAQs). The webpage is very clear and concise, but there is no search area to search key words. You can use VoiceThread in the classroom in a variety of ways. You can create a slide show of images about a particular content while inserting lectures for each image. Since other individuals are able to add other content, you can implement VoiceThread in a collaborative assignment for your students. Any types of lectures, assignments, reviews and game activities can be created using VoiceThread. || Ray Gemmill ||
 * Slideroll || http://www.slideroll.com || Slideroll is a online photo slideshow maker that you can use personal photos and can be published on the internet, social networks (myspace, facebook, etc.) and youtube. The sole purpose of this website was to allow you to easily create a photo album or slide show for anyone to see (stated on the website). This website is very easy to use. On the side, their is a step by step icon that explains and shows the user how to use create and edit the slideshows. Also, you can caption and rotate the pictures, you can edit the layout and background of your slideshow and it is as simple as drop and drag pictures. Some of the strengths include the low subscription fee, you have the ability to add music, the program can be ran on desktop applications and flash movies are available on the site. Some weaknesses include how it can be tough to navigate program on mobile internet access and the user has to pay for some of the extra accessories. The site support includes having free demonstrations and tutorials to help user create slideshows and also has to search toolbar in the right upper corner. There are community forums on the webpage that users can post questions and communicate with other users about issues and topics on slideroll. There is no educational version of slideroll, but you could still implement slideroll in the educational setting. Any assignment that requires images or photos can be done on slideroll and group presentations can also be done on slideroll. The ability to edit with music and background widgets makes this program a fun program for students. This program can be used with students from K-12 because of how easy it is to use and the excellent tutorials on the webpage. || Ray Gemmill ||
 * Our Story || http://www.ourstory.com || Our Story is a timeline tool where you can add photos and other media to your personal timeline. Similar to facebook, you can add friends or family to your timeline and they can add material to you timeline. The webpage I found to be very hard to navigate through and at times was confusing. to me. This tool reminds me of digital storytelling because you can add photos to enhance a story or event, like your own timeline. The one thing that was cool about this site was the ability to add friends and allow them to post on your timeline. I could not find any educational version of OurStory available to the user. Some strengths of this tool includes the ability to create timelines with photos, your friends can add on your timeline (collaborative) and the concept of the timeline element can be used in many events or assignments. Some weaknesses include how tough it is to navigate through the website, lack of educational use and it is better used within a group. There was no educational version and you would be able to do more within a group than as an individual. One educational use that you could do with this tool is to assign students a background assignment on themselves. They could create a timeline of photos throughout their lives and share that with the class. It would be easier to use in contents that require more timelines, including social studies or science. In other content areas, it would take some thinking to have the ability to use this tool in your class. The site support is decent, whereas it has a search toolbar available if needed, it has a great privacy policy and contact information if needed, feedback comments and help sidebar that allows user to learn morer about website. Overall, it cool idea, but limited in educational uses. || Ray Gemmill ||

=Embed your screencasts here:=

Photopeach by: Stacey Kaufman media type="custom" key="23398182"

How to ToonDoo by: Kirstie Menzies This is a screencast giving a short explanation of how toondoo could be used in a classroom. I create a toondoo cartoon and show how easy toondoo is to make professional, fun comic strips. I hope you enjoy my screencast.

media type="custom" key="23401060" How To ToonDoo by Kirstin Menzies is licensed under a [|Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License].

Slideroll by: Ray Gemmill

media type="custom" key="23401490"

Kerpoof like poof! by: Rachel Hoffman This is a screencast that gives an explanation and some demonstrations of the various tools that Kerpoof has to offer to educators. Used With the Permission of Disney/Kerpoof. media type="custom" key="23405028"media type="custom" key="23405032"

Danielle's Screencast of Xtimeline The following Screencast shares information on how to create and use Xtimeline, a tool for making timelines for projects, chronology of a text, or other product for educators and students. Enjoy! media type="custom" key="23409554"